Tough decision: to replace hybrid battery or trade in and go for new car?

Hello! I have had my current Prius for about 10 years. It’s a 2005 with 216K on it, and the “red triangle of death” showed up a couple days ago. The hybrid battery has never been replaced, so we thought that might be it. Our local mechanic, who we love, doesn’t do hybrid batteries, so we reluctantly try brought it to our closest dealership. The check engine light had also been on and off for about a year, but with four kids we’d not done much about it. And it drove great. Over the past year, we have done: brakes, coolant replacement, water pump, new exhaust system, and tires only have about 10k on them (I mainly use the Prius to drive 8 miles total each day for work to teach, and then only the occasional visit to family a couple hours away). The dealer quoted us at $3,100 for the hybrid battery, then 330 for an oxygen sensor and 700 for a valve replacement (kids were screaming in the background by that point and I could t get the full name of the valve). Does anyone have any wisdom or perspective to share on whether it’s wise to try to find 4k to keep our 2005 with 226K miles on it going, or whether this is a sign to cease and desist, trade in, and find something more reliable? I wish to had more time to learn to fix things on my own, but life with the kids and teaching is pretty chaotic, so I probably couldn’t do much sleuthing, but would love anyone’s perspective or experience! Many thanks, and peace!

 

Thanks so much for these helpful replies everyone! We looked into some new car options and we’re stunned by how tough the market is. My brother had gotten a hybrid Corolla for 25k, but had to wait months. We called around they told us 6 month wait, and didn’t feel great about spending a ton on another used car. Had called around to local mechanics and no one did hybrid batteries….